A Season for the Spirit: If I Do Not Wash You...

What reluctance we all have when it comes to being humbly served by Jesus the servant! What revulsion we possess at the mere thought of Jesus uncovering our filthy feet and washing them! Smith reminds us that this revulsion is an unveiling of our resistance we will bring to Calvary where the one who took the form of a servant, humbled himself to death on a cross.

"'The foot-washing throws light on how the cross judges us. Will we accept absolute and unconditional love and allow it to envelope us? After the washing, Judas was disgusted with him and ran out into the night to betray Jesus. The mystery of damnation is the possibility deep in the heart of every human being of totally repudiating the embrace of divine Love in the final "No."'

"The mystery of salvation is the possibility in the heart of every human being of overcoming our dread of unconditional love and consenting with a yielding 'Yes' to its victory over our shame and the healing of our alienation."

God alone can do what needs to be done. God alone can overcome the separation, demolish the barrier, fill in the lack, annihilate the debt. "While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."

Christ is who gives us our personhood. I think that is part of the Christian gospel that is most neglected. Christ makes us into who we are meant to be...he gives us our identity born from above. Again, he gives us our personhood. So I find it interesting that somewhere along the discovery we choose to go it alone. We reject the one who gives us our meaning, purpose, and personhood and "make a fateful bargain to rid ourselves of the hope of being loved absolutely." We are hell-bent on earning our love and not being loved unless we deserve it. We forget that Jesus the servant took a knee and humbly washed his disciples feet. One ran out. Others stayed. And Jesus spoke some pretty strong words with no sentimentality attached. He said, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me."

What do these words mean to you? Do you and I run away from the truth of being unconditionally loved by Jesus the Servant? We have accepted the love of God on a cross but we often remain mired in a stubborn reluctance. May we all, on this Maundy Thursday, look toward the cross of tomorrow and accept the divine love that is present.